Even with a booming economy and one of the lowest unemployment rates in decades, localities still strive to create jobs and retain businesses. The Center for Community Change recently conducted studies of four successful local government strategies to create job opportunities for low-income persons: employment linkage programs, the targeting of economic sectors, industrial retention and expansion, and temporary employment. The four studies now have been published by HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R): Making Connections: A Study of Employment Linkage Programs; Strengthening Rural Economies: Programs that Target Promising Sectors of a Local Economy; Saving and Creating Good Jobs: A Study of Industrial Retention and Expansion Programs; and New Avenues Into Jobs: Early Lessons from Nonprofit Temp Agencies and Employment Brokers. Each report offers insights into the potential for a particular local development strategy that can be replicated and customized to meet local needs. Each report is based on several case studies of exemplary local projects. Making Connections focuses on efforts by local governments to work with private-sector employers to make jobs accessible to low-income individuals. This study looks at three longstanding employment linkage programs in Portland, Oregon; Berkeley, California; and Minneapolis, Minnesota, to determine how they link residents of economically isolated communities with jobs. The study found that successful initiatives created ties to employers through the use of development incentives, such as local governments using their fiscal and zoning powers to attract businesses. The report notes that the organizations succeed because they offer employers an extensive system for locating quality employees, provide timely access to information on job opportunities, and have established means for screening, referring, and placing job candidates. Strengthening Rural Economies examines whether a strategy of concentrating rural economic development efforts on similar businesses located near each other can produce jobs. It shows how market analysis can be used to help a community gain indepth knowledge of sectors, clearly define goals, form a network of similar businesses, and build on factors that have helped support local businesses. The report features four case studies of such sector-related strategies that have enabled rural areas to reach, train, and employ low-income people. The study concludes that sector-based business initiatives can strengthen the economies of rural communities. Saving and Creating Good Jobs describes programs designed to help local manufacturing firms remain in an area and expand. The study assesses the value of industrial retention and expansion (IRE) strategies. The underlying presumption is that some manufacturing firms in any locality would prefer to stay, and even expand, if special mechanisms were in place that improved the manufacturer's capacity to compete by providing assistance in areas such as marketing, technology, and finding qualified workers. This report discusses strategies such as local governments responding to manufacturers' expanding and changing needs before they start looking for alternative locations, and training local workers for the manufacturers' new jobs. The report finds that IRE efforts do help to keep companies in areas that they might otherwise leave. IRE organizations determine companies' needs, provide direct services, and provide links to individuals and organizations that can serve the companies. IRE efforts have increased job opportunities for disadvantaged people and helped to promote companies' growth and competitiveness. New Avenues Into Jobs explores an economic development model in which employment brokers place jobseekers in temporary positions that provide work experience, retention assistance, and other kinds of postplacement support. This report documents the efforts of six nonprofit organizations to help disadvantaged workers find jobs through temporary work and examines common findings. Temporary employment can be an entree into the workplace, particularly for people with limited work experience, those with limited skills, and individuals who need a second chance. Early evidence suggests that community-based organizations that run employment brokering businesses with a social mission can help fill the critical need for employment support for disadvantaged people and compete successfully in certain market niches. These organizations understand how to work with the people they place in jobs. Businesses that hire these people apparently value the support that the nonprofits provide their employees to improve job performance and longevity. The four studies were conducted with support from PD&R, the Pew Charitable Trusts and its Fund for Urban Neighborhood Development, and the Center for Community Change. Order Making Connections: A Study of Employment Linkage Programs; Strengthening Rural Economies: Programs that Target Promising Sectors of a Local Economy; Saving and Creating Good Jobs: A Study of Industrial Retention and Expansion Programs; and New Avenues Into Jobs: Early Lessons from Nonprofit Temp Agencies and Employment Brokers for $5 each from HUD USER. Use the order form. |
